Santa Maria - Columbus's Flag Ship (1492)

Kit Manufacturer: Billing Boats, Denmark

Major Material: Wood

Model Specifications: 1:50 Scale

Work Experience: This kit belongs the "medium difficulty" class of the ship model kits manufactured by the Billing Boats company. For me, the difficulty comes from that all the parts were drawn on the wood boards and have to be cut manually. In order to get correct three-dimensional shape of the parts, they have to be sanded and filed very carefully (and patiently). As this is my very first wooden ship model, it took me about 4 months to finish the construction (on the basis of 4 to 6 working hours per day). I have learned quite a bit of woodworking techniques from it.

Historical Notes: Santa Maria is known all over the world as the flag ship of Christopher Columbus on which he on August 3rd, 1492 sailed from Palos in the southwest of Spain. After having visited the Canary Islands he crossed the Atlantic ocean in 36 days and discovered America on October 12th, 1492 (at that time he thought it is India). The waterline of Santa Maria is 21.30m, width 7.80m and depth 3m. (by Billing Boats)